Strictly Business
by Nikki99
Summary: My first multi-parter, Serena's all grown up and a reporter for the 'Times', but can she handle her breakthrouh story.
1. Prolouge

Hello, hello, hello!! *Nikki gives enthusiastic smile*  
I know you didn't think that you'd be seeing me for a   
while right? Well I am kind of swamped with class, but  
when inspiration strikes! This is my first multi-chapter  
fic, so let me know what you think, ok? I want to thank   
the people who pre-read it for me, Ruth-chan, Silver Moon-chan,  
Serena-chan, Kas-chan and Krishna-chan. Anyway here it goes...  
  
Author: Nikki99  
Title: Strictly Business  
CH: Prologue  
Rating: PG (some language, very little)  
Genre: Rom, Alt  
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Disclaimer: uhh, hun, ok, alright shut up! SM is not   
mine. Sue if you like but after paying for   
tuition and books, I don't even own myself.  
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Strictly Business   
  
Serena walked quickly down the hall, her low pumps  
making a soft tapping against the marble floor. She cast a  
quick glance at her watch.  
  
"Damn" she whispered to herself noticing   
the time. "I'm late" she finished quickening   
her pace to a slow jog.  
  
As she neared her destination voices started to  
penetrate the still air. Few people took notice of the   
beautiful blond as she rounded the corner, but he did.  
She smiled as she saw him looking at her, which he returned  
wholeheartedly.  
Serena took a moment or two to compose herself before  
approaching him. After straighting a few wrinkles in her skirt  
suit she proceeded to walk over to him, an attractive satin  
stain covering her cheeks.  
  
"You're late" He stated simply, while trying his  
best to look upset.  
"I'm sorry" she said giving the handsome dark-haired  
gentleman her best puppydog look.  
"Ok, ok" he said breaking back into a smile "but  
don't think that stupid look of yours is going to get  
you off the hook EVERY time."  
  
Serena smiled at her friend and slapped him playfully  
across the arm.  
  
"Dan," she said (AN: Who did you think it was? *evil  
author laughter*) before stopping her childish antics  
and getting serious. "What did I miss?" she asked   
scanning the area and people around her.  
"Not a thing" said Dan adjusting his camera lens.   
"Lucky for you the proceedings are running late" he  
finished giving her a sideways glance.  
"It's personal" Serena stated simply while still  
scoping out her surroundings.  
"Dan," Serena said quietly, but still loud enough  
for him to hear over the hum of the crowd.   
"Yeah." he said looking up for a second before  
standing up, to be closer.  
"Is there another way out of the courtroom?" she  
asked.  
"Yeah, I think around the corner, why?"  
"How long ago was the trial supposed to be over?"  
she asked looking again at her silver 'Rumours' watch.  
"About..." Dan looked at his watch "ten minutes ago  
why?... You don't think..."  
  
Serena nodded her head as she slowly made her way  
around the corner without attracting attention. As she rounded  
the corner she saw Rei Evans, a fellow reporter from the 'Times'  
walking towards her with a satisfied look on her face.  
  
"Hey Serena" Rei called "What's up?"  
"Hey Rei" Serena said giving a wary smile.  
  
It wasn't that she didn't like Rei, she just didn't  
trust her. Serena knew that Rei wasn't supposed to be there.  
With that knowledge and the look on Rei's face and impending  
feeling of dread came to Serena as she took a sent on the bench  
next to her.  
  
"What are you doing here?" asked Serena casting a  
sideways glance at Dan who was busy glaring at Rei's  
photographer Mike.  
"Oh, nothing much" said Rei flipping her ebony  
hair over her shoulder in a careless yet arrogant way.  
"Just landing a quick interview with Mayor Cardena"  
she finished with a satisfied smirk, while holding up a  
small tape recorder.  
  
Serena stared at Rei with a look of disbelief for a   
second before running a frustrated hand through her honey colored  
hair. She had been right about the mayor but her conclusion had   
come two minutes to late.  
  
"Wha..you aren't even supposed to be here." Serena  
stated and annoyed expression crossing her lovely face.  
  
The story about the Mayor's money laundering and   
scandalous affair with a local judge's wife was HER story. Andrew  
had given her that assignment, it was supposed to be her first real  
article, her breakthrough story. The one that made her popular  
and respected, titles that Rei already had under her belt.  
  
"Well..." Rei paused for a minute "Andrew thought  
that maybe the story was too much for you to handle alone   
so he sent me to help." Rei then did another short pause   
this time licking her ruby red lips.  
"Actually, we arrived the same time as you did, we  
were a few steps behind you when you broke into that little  
jog of yours." Rei touched her chin thoughtfully "you know,  
that was about the time I noticed the mayor's spokesman   
coming out of the door. I was sure that you had seen him,  
but you just jogged right past him" she said making small  
brushing motions with her hands.  
  
Serena's head fell into her hands at this revelation. When  
she had been running past the door she had noticed that a familiar   
looking man was coming out. But she had been in such a hurry that she   
had ignored her intuition and ran right past the focus of her story.  
  
"You know Serena," Rei said a smug smile coming across  
her beautifully exotic features " if your going to be a   
REAL reporter" she continued waving her small taperecorder  
in the air like some type of trophy. "then you should learn  
to pay attention to your surroundings and every detail."  
  
Serena glared at Rei as the raven-haired beauty turned and  
walked away.  
  
"But don't worry," Rei called over her shoulder "I'll tell  
Andrew that if it weren't for you I would have caught the mayor  
leaving the courthouse *instead* of the courtROOM." Mike turned   
and gave them one last smirk before going to catch up with Rei.  
"You just wait," Serena said to herself glaring at Rei's  
retreating figure "I'll show you who the REAL reporter is."  
  
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Well that's the end of the prologue, what do you think?   
And yes Darien is coming just give me sometime to get the   
story rolling, ok?  
R&R let me know what you think!!  
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	2. Chapter 1

Well here's ch. 1, remember please let me know what you  
think. Should I finish or quit while I'm ahead? Let me   
know, ok? Ja!! Thanks again to my prereaders!!  
  
Author: Me!  
Title: Strictly Business  
Genre: Rom., Alt.  
Rating: PG (same as before)  
  
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Disclaimer: What?...You again?... How many times do I have  
to do this?... *sweatdrop* That long huh?... Ok I don't   
own anything, as a matter a fact these fingers I'm typing  
with *Nikki wiggles fingers at computer screen* their on   
lone!  
**********************************************  
  
  
Strictly Business  
Chapter 1  
  
"You just wait," Serena said to herself glaring at Rei's  
retreating figure "I'll show you who the REAL reporter is."  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&   
  
  
Serena was laying on her couch staring at the ceiling. She   
had just gotten off of the phone with Andrew, he had given the  
story to Rei... No he had given HER story to Rei.  
  
Serena gave a frustrated groan, she had been with the 'New  
York Times' for over four years now. She had worked her way up  
from intern to a reporter, and now her first REAL story had been  
stolen by that back stabbing, manipulative, well, bitch Rei. Serena  
closed her eyes and took a deep breath to try to compose herself.  
She knew as much as she wanted it to be, it wasn't Rei's fault.  
If she had been paying attention to her surroundings she would  
have gotten the interview before Rei could even sliver into the  
picture.  
  
Serena sat up on the couch looking around the living room  
of her spacious two bedroom apartment. Torn scraps and pieces of  
news papers covered the counter and table, while boxes littered the  
floor. She had moved there about three and a half months ago, but  
with the story and all the research time that she had put in (over  
a month's worth) she hadn't had time to completely unpack.  
  
'And now all my hard work is right down the toilet' Serena  
thought to herself. 'Thanks to Rei Pyro Evans'.  
  
It's not exactly that Rei's a bad person, it's just that   
when she wanted a story she would do anything to get it and step  
on anyone. This time, Serena was her stone. Rei had refused to give  
Andrew her interview with the mayor if he put Serena's name on the  
article along with hers. It turns out that while Serena was   
researching the topic, so was Rei, she had been planing on getting  
it from Serena from the beginning. Serena let out a large sigh and  
shook her head to clear the unpleasant thoughts.  
  
"Well," she said to herself "might as well clean  
this place up."  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&   
  
Serena had been cleaning for about two hours and was   
almost done when her phone rang.  
  
"Hello" said Serena while swatting at an irritating  
strand of hair that absolutely refused to stay under her  
bandana.  
"Hey!" came the cheerful reply.  
"Andrew," Serena said recognizing the voice immediately   
"what's up?"  
"I've got you a story" he replied, Serena could practically  
see him smiling through the phone. "It's a biggie too."  
"Really?" Serena asked her excitement mounting. "Well...who,  
why,wh..." Serena took a deep breath "I mean, what is it?"  
  
  
Andrew laughed for a moment at Serena's flustered state,  
he had hated breaking the news to her earlier. The hurt in her   
voice had nearly killed him.  
  
"You know who Darien Chiba is, right?" he asked.  
  
Serena rolled her eyes and gave and exasperated sigh, of  
course she knew who he was, who didn't. He was the gorgeous Japanese  
millionaire who had moved to Los Angeles and basically taken the   
business world by storm. He developed several successful companies  
all over the U.S. and the world. He was a mystery to everyone,   
although many pictures of him had been printed, no one has ever  
been able to get an interview with him. And he must have paid his  
staff nice because none of them would talk, the only people who  
would are the people who did business with him and they said that he  
was a cold and callus, career oriented person who went after things  
like a shark. But on the opposite end of the argument, he was seen  
going all kinds of places with his adopted son. Although some argue  
that it's just a publicity stunt.  
  
"Duh" said Serena swatting at that pesky hair again.  
"Well," said Andrew "he was in a terrible car wreck while  
taking his adopted son to school."  
"What?!" Serena asked "wh...wha..we..is, is he alright?"  
Serena finished concern etched in her voice.  
"Wellll... he's in critical but stable condition" Andrew  
said.  
"Good" said Serena giving a sigh of relief.  
"Well, not quite" Andrew responded. "You see, well, his,  
his adopted son didn't make it. He was DOA to the hospital.  
  
Serena's breath caught, she was speechless. His son was   
*dead*. DEAD. That was horrible, what had happened? Did Darien know?  
Was Andrew sure?  
  
"What happened?" Serena asked voicing one of her many   
thoughts.  
"I'll explain everything when you get here, you are doing  
the story right?"  
"What story?" she asked shaking her head to clear her   
of her current depressing thought pattern.  
"The story on Chiba" Andrew stated.  
"What am I supposed to write about?" she asked.  
"Anything, everything find out his background, if he owns  
any other types of business, how much he makes, why he   
adopted the little boy, his feelings on the loss of his son,"  
"I think that his feeling on that matter are pretty obvious   
don't you, Andrew?" Serena cut in slightly bewildered at  
what he was asking her to do. "Besides how am *I* supposed to  
get this information?"  
"You know what I mean" a clearly annoyed Andrew stated.  
"Besides Sere, you have a way with people, and right now he's  
vulnerable, he needs someone to talk to. Who's to say that you  
can't be that person?"  
"Maybe he *has* someone to talk to."  
"Look, do you want the story or not Rena?" Andrew asked.  
"I don't know" Serena said thoughtfully, touching her chin,   
then something clicked. "Why don't you ask her highass Rei"  
she responded her voice dripping with sarcasm. Andrew sighed.  
"First of all Rei tends to intimidate people, turn their heads  
and make them wither under her stare. I doubt that Chiba will go   
for that, while you, well you just have a way of getting people   
to open up and let their guard down without a second thought. And that's  
just what we need. Secondly even if she didn't intimidate him,  
and she could charm him, Rei's too well-known. Her picture has  
been in the magazine multiple times, not to mention in the news  
papers several times. Since he does have a business down here and  
is a subscriber to the magazine I doubt that he doesn't know  
that she's a reporter by now. Which means that he would never  
trust her to even take out his trash let alone hear his secrets.  
While your picture has never been in the magazine or any news  
paper" even though she knew he couldn't see her Serena rolled her  
eyes at Andrew anyway "YET. Lastly... it's highness not highass"  
he stated chuckling.  
"I said what I meant, and I meant what I said" Serena responded  
smiling.  
"So, do you want it or not?" Andrew asked again. "You know I'd  
hate to send a rookie out to do a pro's job. Besides if you get   
the scoop on Chiba you'll be more famous than Rei is, hell you'll  
be more famous than HE is. And Rei will absolutely die of envy."  
"Promise?" asked Serena smiling.  
"Well, no" replied Andrew laughing "but, that's what we're   
shooting for."  
"Then you have your girl." she responded now also laughing.  
"Great then I'll see you in about an.... hour?"  
"Sure" said Serena glancing at the clock on her wall.  
"Great, see ya!"  
"Bye."  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&   
  
  
Half an hour later she was ready to go, she had showered and   
changed out of her 'house clothes'. Serena looked around her apartment  
one last time to make sure that she hadn't forgotten anything. She had  
her purse, cell phone, glasses, bag with her laptop, check on all those  
things. As she was about to turn off the lights her eyes caught on an  
old newspaper sticking out of the garbage can. It was an earlier picture  
of Darien Chiba and his son, going into a movie theater. Presumably to  
see 'The Grinch'. Serena walked over and pulled the article out of the  
trash.  
  
'This man has just lost his *child*' she thought  
to herself 'and now I'm supposed to go over to him and   
snake away private, and personal information and make it  
public' she sighed running her hands though her hair like  
she did whenever she was uncomfortable.  
"Serena Lewis," she mumbled to herself setting the   
article down on the kitchen counter "what *did*  
you get yourself into." She finished casting one last  
glance at the picture before turning off her lights and  
going to meet Andrew.  
  
&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&   
  
  
Well that's chapter one, what do you think?  
R&R please,  
should I continue or save us all the pain and stop now?  
Let me know, Ja!! Nikki99   
  



	3. Chapter 2

Author: Me!  
  
Title: Strictly Business  
  
Genre: Rom., Alt.  
  
Rating: PG (same as before)  
  
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Disclaimer: I don't own anything  
  
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Strictly Business: Ch 2  
  
Serena looked out of the window of her new apartment.  
  
Yes, her NEW apartment. 'Didn't I just move into  
  
my old one?' she thought to herself as she sat down on  
  
the small cream colored couch.   
  
The past couple of days had gone by in such a huge  
  
blur. The Chiba story was supposed to be the biggest   
  
story for the Times in a while. So much rested on her   
  
success it made Serena a more than uncomfortable   
  
with the situation.  
  
'Well," she thought ' there's nothing I can do now.'  
  
She was stuck. Andrew had assured financers that she  
  
would have no problem getting the info. He went so far  
  
as to say he backed her skill 100%. He had also convinced   
  
them to go all out for this. And boy did they ever! They had  
  
invested large amounts of money on her, getting her  
  
everything she would need for this assignment including  
  
this fully furnished one bedroom apartment, a new wardrobe,  
  
a small car, bank account, id and a job.  
  
She was now Serena Tuskigo, a sunny, caring medical and  
  
physical therapy assistant at New York Hospital Cornell   
  
Medical Center (sorry, I don't know much about N.Y.  
  
hospitals, I hope this is a good one).She was also one of the   
  
elite few assigned to watch over the infamous Darien Chiba.  
  
"I wonder how they pulled that off." she said to herself getting up  
  
to make some coffee.  
  
She had only had one day to pack what she would need and  
  
move into her new place. She wasn't allowed back at her other  
  
apartment for anything, suspicious activity would have not only  
  
Mr. Chiba's body guards on her but possibly other members of  
  
the press either of which could blow her cover.  
  
It was ironic really, she had gone to medical school for about a  
  
year and a half before dropping out (much to the dismay of her  
  
parents) to pursue her writing career. And now here she was,  
  
working in a hospital. Serena chuckled a bit as the irony of the  
  
situation was not lost on her.  
  
'I need to relax' she said to herself rubbing her temple with her  
  
hand. "Oh! I know!" Serena exclaimed, grabbing her coffee cup  
  
quickly rinsing it and putting it up to dry.   
  
The blonde then ran quickly to her room grabbing some under  
  
garments and her fluffly ducky robe and ran to the restroom.  
  
The last thing to be seen before the door shut was a beautiful  
  
woman laughing like a school girl pouring 'Elmo' bubble bath into  
  
a filling tub while squeezing a rubber ducky.  
  
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Sorry so short, I'll try to make them longer.  
  
Questions? Comments? Even TASTEFUL Criticism welcome! 


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